Runnin' Down a Dream
by nannygirl
Summary: While his friends are happy in their renewed relationships Fez feels like the odd man out. That is until he reads an unexpected postcard. This postcard soon sends Fez and two of his best friends on the road in search of a love he thought he had lost.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing. I do not own That '70s Show or any of it's characters. I do not own the song that the story is named after nor any of the songs that the chapters are named after, those belong to Tom Petty. I do not own the song that helped inspire the story. I own nothing._

_**Author's Note: **__Hello everyone! How are you all? Hope you're doing well! Today I have for your the first chapter of my new multichapter story, Runnin' Down a Dream. Now some of you may have heard about it some of you maybe not. This isn't a very common storyline even though it may seem like it. This time the main characters are different, it's Fez and Laurie along with Kelso and Hyde who have the starring roles but don't worry others will appear every so often. I' hoping to make this story around 10 chapters give or take so it'll be long but not as long as my others. Also this story was inspired by the song 'El Cerrito Place' there are two versions of the song, I feel in love with Kenny Chesney's. You don't have to listen to the song to understand the story but feel free to. I'm kinda nervous about this story but at the same time I'm really excite to so I hope you all will enjoy this chapter and will want to read more. Please do leave a review if you have the chance, I always love hearing my readers' thoughts and with my nerves still shaking with this story it would really mean a lot. Thanks for stopping by to read, I hope you like it, please review if you can, and as always, Enjoy!_

_Special Thanks: Thanks to all of you who knew about the story and supported the idea. Thanks to all of you who read my FL story 'Escape' your like of that story made me want to do a bigger FL story. And a big big big big BIG THANK YOU to MidniteRain who had just been the greatest help with so many things but especially this story. If fanfics could have co-producers he would definitely be one! Thank You So Much JB!_

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**Runnin' Down a Dream**

**Chapter 1- You Don't Know How It Feels**

"What the hell?" Fez asked the moment he stepped into the Forman basement.

The young foreign man had come to the basement today ready to spend a fun filled day, laughing and playing around with his close friends but the scene he walked in on told him that there had been a change of plans. His friends were sitting together in pairs, talking in pairs, smiling in pairs. Fez felt like he'd stepped back into one of his high school classes where he knew no one and the teacher told every to partner up and Fez was left by himself and forced to pair up with the fat, sweaty teacher. Well not this time!

With a determined look on his face, Fez marched into the sitting area and over to the first couple who crossed his path.

"Okay, Hackie." He called while kicking the leg of the old kitchen chair causing the couple to break out of their lip lock, "I put you two back together I can break you apart."

Fez had been over exaggerating in his statement. At least in the second half of it, the first half was very true. He had been the one to help get Hyde and Jackie back together only a few weeks after New Years—this was of course long after he and Jackie had ended their 'relationship.' He'd figured out that Jackie was still in love with Hyde and Hyde still loved her; he knew that they belonged with each other. He'd never try to break them up but he had no problem interrupting their make out sessions.

He marched over to the recently renewed redhead. She sat alone on the sofa but wore a large grin on her face as she held the receiver of the telephone next to her ear.

"And you, who are you talking to?" Fez wanted to know, a frown indented on his forehead.

Donna looked up at him, "It's Eric calling from Africa."

New Years Day Eric and Donna had made up and decided to try the long distance thing again but just for the few months Eric still had left in Africa. He returned back over there by the end of the first week of the year. It had been a bittersweet goodbye for the couple, but this time they were doing it right, more letters, more phone calls, more of anything that would help the remaining five months of Eric's trip go by faster.

Hearing that it was his old friend, Fez's face lit up, "Oo! Can I talk to him?"

"Fine." She agreed fighting back a smile at his excitement, she handed him the phone but not before adding, "But don't take long!"

Fez nodded and then placed the phone up to his ear, "Hello Eric, how is Africa?" there was a pause as Fez listened to Eric go on about what he was doing in the far away land. Fez continued to smile but slowly it started to fade until finally he'd hadn't enough, "Okay, do not forget to bring me candy from Africa. Now good day!"

The receiver slammed down on the hook with an audible slam that made Donna's eyes go wide.

"Fez!" she scolded.

"I say good day!" he replied with a raised palm and then continued his trip behind the couch to the next couple sitting on the left side of the sofa; he placed his hands on his hips as he looked at them, "Do you two not have a baby to take care of?"

Brooke nodded before explaining their daughter's whereabouts, "She's upstairs with Mrs. Forman."

"Yeah, this is our only baby-free time in like…forever!" Kelso exaggerated just a bit too much, it'd only been two days but to Kelso it felt much longer. He loved his daughter with all his heart but that same heart loved his daughter's mother who he'd just recently begun a real romantic relationship with.

"Yes, I know." Fez nodded "And that is why it is a perfect time for a Fun Feztivity! Yay!"

Five groans followed Fez's lone cheer. The group loved their friend they just didn't exactly love is 'Fun Feztivities' especially not that last ones that included blowing bubbles and laying outside watching clouds go by while finding different shapes and images in them. These festivities would have been fun if they were young kids not so fun when they were finishing up their teen years. However, Fez—and his child heart—ignored their groans and carried on.

"We are going to have a race to see who can get to the center of Tootsie Pop first!" Fez declared and then pulled a bag of candy out of his back pocket, "I have brought one for each of you. And extras for me."

As he watched Fez pass out a lollipop to Donna, Jackie, and then himself, Hyde tried to figure out a way to back out of this Feztivity or at least prolong it from happening for a few more hours. But it had to be in a way that wouldn't wound the poor guy too badly.

"Fez, man, I know this is a one in a life time opportunity with you sharing your candy and all." he said, twirling the candy between his thumb and index finger, "But you think we can do this later? Jackie and me have plans for right now."

The other man scowled and shook his head, "No."

"Fez, we can do your Feztivity later." Jackie tried to reason. She didn't want to hurt their friend either but she also wanted to make up for lost time with her boyfriend by making out with him.

"No."

Donna stepped in, hoping that more people backing out would lead to a rescheduling of events, "Yeah and Eric and I were in the middle of a phone date when you hung up on him, so he should be calling back soon."

Joining the bandwagon, Kelso nodded his head up and down, "And we're gonna do it."

"Michael!" Brooke hissed as she smacked his arm.

"Ow!" he exclaimed in pain "What we are!"

"Doesn't look like you're gonna be doing it anytime soon, man." Hyde commented, not being able to hold back the smirk that formed when he caught the death glare Brooke was looking at Kelso with.

Fez's brown eyes lit up at this and he grinned at his man-pretty friend, "Yay, then you both can be in the race!"

With his smile staying in place, Fez sat himself on the sofa and squeezed himself between Donna and Brooke. Once he was comfortable he reached into his candy bag and retrieved two lollipops and handed them to the couple—the red one going to Kelso and the orange to Brooke.

"Fez, since we're all busy right now why don't you go have Tootsie Pop race with some of your other friends?" Donna suggested, being the only one brave enough to say something that would get Fez out of their hair for a little while, "And we can have another race tomorrow or something."

The redhead's words made Fez's happiness disappear instantly. He knew she was not trying to be mean but her words had still hurt him.

"But I have no other friends." He admitted with sad eyes and in a very sad tone, looking at his candy. Candy had always been there for him but he didn't think it would count as a friend. Fez looked up and at the others, "Without all of you, I am _all by myself_." he ended his statement with words that sounded almost musical.

Realizing that the last three words and the tune they'd been said in matched with the Eric Carmen song, Hyde alerted the others.

"Oh man, he's gonna start singing."

"Someone stop him!" Jackie declared; Fez's singing wasn't too bad and usually his song choices were ones Jackie enjoyed but lately he'd been picking sad and depressing songs that he only managed to sing half way through before he started breaking down into tears. She did not want to go through that again.

Despite being Fez's best buddy, Kelso shook his head, "Not me!"

"Fez, honey, you're not all by yourself." Brooke stepped up to the plate and placed a comforting hand on the young man's shoulder, "You have us. You'll always have us. We all love you very, very much."

"Really?" Fez asked with a growing smile.

While Brooke nodded along, Donna couldn't help but become alarmed by the very large grin on Fez's face. Donna knew Brooke was only trying to help but she really did need to watch what she said to Fez. She was still new to the group though, so it was excused but Donna knew someone had to clear things up before Fez took the words too seriously—and it looked like that someone was going to have to be her.

"Yeah Fez, we all love you very, very much." Donna nodded but being to make sure he didn't get any…Fez ideas, she added, "As a friend. We love you very much as a friend."

His smile shrunk with disappointment, "Oh."

Feeling guilty for being the reason behind Fez's sudden loss of joy, Donna continued on, "But there are probably lots of girls who would love you as more than a friend."

This good news filled Fez with hope and his smile reappeared.

"Yeah, but they'll probably a bunch of uggos." Kelso commented from the peanut gallery.

And just like that the dark skinned man's smile was gone once again.

"Fez, don't listen to Michael." Jackie said in a sincere tone to her friend while at the same time sending a death glare to her first boyfriend, "They won't all be uggos. They'll be some pretty girls too. I mean you and I dated for a week and half, that proves anything is possible!"

Fez nodded his head in agreement, "That is true."

"I know there's a girl out there who's gonna love you just as much as you love her." the raven haired young woman continued, she knew the problem with Fez and his other relationships was that he was always the one who loved too much, "You'll make each other so happy and she'll even be pretty. But not as pretty as me. Sorry."

Again Fez nodded in an understanding manner but his smile had still not returned as he asked the question he needed to know the answer to, "But where is she, Jackie?"

Jackie's brown eyes gazed sympathetically at her roommate, "I don't know, Fez." she said honestly but gave a small smile as she added, "But you'll find her."

"Aye! That is too hard!" Fez whined his frustration and loneliness showing again.

"I'm with Fez." came Kelso's unsurprising agreement, "Finding a girl who'll just take care of his needs would be a lot easier."

"Fez, man, if you're gonna do that, think I might be able to get you phone numbers of some of Edna's old friends." Hyde remarked in a joking manner.

"Steven, eww!" Jackie scrunched her nose in disgust as she scowled at her boyfriend, "Your sense of humor is gross."

Hyde smirked, "You know you love it."

"No I don't." she argued, "Shut up."

"You know the best way to do that." He said with a mischievous smirk in place.

By now Jackie couldn't hold in her smile even if she tried to. Not giving it a second thought she leaned her head down until she was close enough to capture Hyde's lips with her own.

As Jackie and Hyde went back to playing tonsil hockey, the phone rang and Donna picked up the receiver after the first ring hoping it was the person she thought it would be. It was. And she and Eric picked up their phone date right where they'd left off. Meanwhile the remaining couple left in the room had once again gotten wrapped up in a conversation made for two.

Once again Fez felt like the odd man out as he sat in middle of Noah's Ark—formerly known as the Forman basement—watching the happy couples be happy and in love with each other while all he had was a bag of candy. Usually a pretty good deal, but not today.

Fez slowly and sadly rose to his feet then began to sing another familiar tune, "_Alone again, naturally_."

While humming the rest of the words to the song by Gilbert O'Sullivan he began to exit the room by climbing up the wooden staircase that would lead up to the next level of the house.

Upon entering the kitchen, Fez was greeted by the sight of Kitty Forman standing near the round kitchen table holding little Betsy Kelso on her hip. Betsy was busy with the snicker doodle cookie in her hand but Kitty didn't mind as her own focus was on the small rectangular piece of paper she was holding in her right hand. The scene still made Fez smile and since he didn't want to interrupt he continued his humming and went over to refrigerator for a snack.

When Kitty suddenly heard a faint sound that sounded almost like music, her eyes widened with panic before she whipped her head in the direction that the noise was coming from; finding Fez standing with a can of Tab in his hands, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh Fez, honey, it's just you." she said sounding very thankful.

"Yes, it is just me and nobody else." Fez replied in a somber tone, "Because I am all alone."

Kitty frowned at hearing this, "Well that is just not true. You're not alone, honey. I'm here. Little Betsy is here." She shifted the smiling 18 month old for her Uncle Fez to see, but when his smile barely twitched Kitty remembered another something that was sure to get the young man grinning, "And some freshly baked snicker doodles are here too."

Fez's eyes widen and sure enough his face broke out into a large smile when Kitty picked up a yellow plate of cookies and held it up to him.

"Oo yummy!" he declared putting down his soda and grabbing the dish from Kitty.

As she retrieved another cookie for Betsy, Kitty smiled feeling happy to see Fez happy but soon remembered the paper she held in her hand and how she needed to make sure Fez knew nothing about it…or at least knew nothing about her having gotten a hold of it. There was a chance he hadn't even noticed the paper before but she couldn't take that chance right now.

"And don't you worry." She said after releasing a nervous giggle, "I wasn't doing anything. And I was _not_ reading anything either."

Fez nodded and then watched as the mother figure placed the small rectangular paper on the table. Now he knew she had been reading something and because Kitty was one of his best gossip buddies he also knew that this would be juicy information—and it wouldn't take long for her to spill the beans.

"Okay." He agreed before practically skipping closer to her with the plate of cookies still in his hands and his grin remaining stretched on his face, "What were you _not_ reading?"

Kitty looked and Fez and titled her head slightly as if weighing her options, "Well I guess it would be okay if I told you. But you cannot tell anyone else."

"My lips are sealed!" the foreigner proudly stated and mimed zipping up his lips into a smile; however this smile faded when he brought a cookie up to his mouth, he unzipped his lips and gave a shy smile, "Except for cookie eating."

While Fez started on his third cookie, Kitty started her explanation.

"I was just reading some mail that was addressed to Red. Which is perfectly fine because we're married. Which means what's mine is his and most importantly what's his is mine." Kitty stated before Fez could interrupt, "And anyways it was only a postcard and everyone knows those are a given, anyone can read those. So really I have done nothing wrong here." She said sounding more like she was trying to convince herself than convince him.

With Betsy still in her arms, Kitty walked over to the fridge to get some milk to go with the cinnamon and sugar cookies. Seeing that Kitty's back was turned, Fez took the opportunity to glance at the postcard that had conveniently been left with the written part facing upwards. Though he didn't look close enough to read the actual words he did pay enough attention to the kind of handwriting that was printed on the back of the postcard.

"It is swirly and girly!" he exclaimed with a gasp, however he was quick to shake his shock and placed a comforting hand on Kitty's shoulder once she and Betsy were back near the table, "Do not worry, Miss. Kitty you do not need Mr. Red. You can run away with me and we can be alone together."

Kitty looked at Fez with a confused expression on her face before releasing a nervous giggle, "Okay well….thank you, Fez, honey, that is very…sweet of you. But that postcard is just from Laurie."

Fez turned on his full attention as soon as he heard the name of one of the goddesses that he had not only worshiped from afar but the one who had helped him stay in this country—his new home country—with all of his friends.

"Laurie? You have heard from Laurie?"

"She's been sending postcards since the beginning of January. Says it's part of her New Year's resolution of keeping in touch with us and telling us how she's doing and what she's been up to." the blonde woman explained, "And by us she means Red since the postcards have all be addressed to him, because apparently carrying her inside of me for nine months and then going through twelve hours of a very painful labor before giving her the irreplaceable gift of life is not enough to get sent a darn postcard!"

Realizing she may have vented a bit too much—though it did make her feel a little better—Kitty let out a laugh hoping to get rid of any awkwardness she may have caused, "But you know, I don't mind all that much that Laurie hasn't written me a postcard. After all I read most of them anyways and Red will tell me about the ones that I miss. And really I'm just happy to hear from her. Knowing that she's safe, alive, and not in jail or part of some free love commune is good enough for me!"

Though Fez had been too busy reading over the small message that Laurie had written to her father to hear anything Kitty had said, he did still move his head in a nodding motion. After reading the message a third time, each time he could hear her voice in the words, he flipped the postcard over to see the other side.

Bright colors of yellow and blue made up the background of the front of the card. There was a large drawing of the large state found on the west coast and inside the state were several little hand drawn pictures of various items and sights with the names of the cities where they could be found printed underneath each of the images. And printed at the very top in big orange letters were the words 'Greetings from California!'

Fez's head snapped up at Kitty, "She has been in California all this time?" _That is not where she told me she was going_.

"Well that's where she is now." Kitty replied and grinned when she noticed he had been looking at the image on the card, "Isn't that a pretty postcard? Oh! And you should see some of the other ones that she's sent, they've come from all over the country like Florida, Washington, Las Vegas, Colorado…Of course none of those places are as far away as Africa is." Suddenly Kitty's face crumbled into pained expression, "Why do my babies insist on breaking my heart by being so far away from me?"

Kitty managed to pull herself together before she broke down into tears and holding the little girl in her arms also helped a great deal.

"You'll never break your mommy's heart like that will you, Betsy?" she asked the baby whose carefree smile made Kitty's smile reappear, "Of course you won't. You're too much of a sweet little angel to do that. Yes, you are…"

While Kitty continued to coo at his best friend's daughter Fez stared at the front of Laurie's postcard with an idea already forming inside his head.

0o0o0o

When Fez reentered the basement he found that the place was just as he had left it; however this time he was not at all bothered by what he saw and just continued to smile as he descended down the stairs stopping at the fifth step from the bottom.

"Ahem!" he cleared his throat and then lifted his cupped hand to his mouth to make it look like he was talking into a walkie talkie, "Attention passengers of The Love Boat, this is your captain speaking."

Those seated in the basement turned their heads to look behind them though it was mostly out of curiously or confusion; Fez not knowing this kept his grin looking very large.

"I am kidding, it is just me Fez." he cleared up and the frowns on his friends' faces stayed in place. "But I do have an announcement to make." He paused for effect, "I am changing my tune and will not be singing anymore sad and alone songs, instead I will sing songs that are happy and bright just like California is."

Noticing the scowls on the faces of his audience Fez had not problem in sharing more of his details.

"Why California? Because I, Fez, am going to California!" Fez declared happily before breaking out into song, "_California here I come, right back where I started from…_"

Now his friends were really confused. Fez was going to California? Why? How? And wasn't that the song that came out in _I Love Lucy_? With all these questions running through their minds all they could do was sit in their seats exchanging puzzled looks as Fez continued to merrily make his way back upstairs.

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_**Author's Note: **__So what did you think? Yay? Nay? Should I continue? Or should I delete and pretend it never happened? Lemme know in a review!_

_Thanks again for stopping by to read, like I said I'm a bit nervous about the story so if you took the time to read it it really mean does mean a lot. Thanks!_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


	2. Hometown Blues

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello everyone! How are you all? Hope you're doing well! I am so so very sorry for taking so long to update this story. I had plans to do so sooner but you know how life can get in the way at times. But to make it up to you I did make this chapter longer than the last and hopefully longer than the ones to come. Before I start the chapter I just wanted to say thank you so so very much for all of the amazing support you all have given me for this story. Your wonderful reviews really made me smile and I am just so happy that so many of you are excited for this story, it makes me excited! Thank you so much once again! And also a big thank you to ShanghaLily for the great advice she gave me about writing this story—Thanks again for your help! Again I am terribly sorry for the late update, but I thank you for stopping by to read it, please do review if you have the chance—I'd love to hear your thoughts! Thanks once more for reading, I hope you like it, please review if you can, and as always please, Enjoy!_

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**Chapter 2- Hometown Blues**

It had been almost two weeks since Fez made his announcement about going to California and since then his friends had found out a few more details about his trip. They knew why he was going—he was tired of waiting for love and wanted to go out and look for it. They knew how he was getting there—by car because he was afraid of the bathrooms in airplanes. But that was about all the information they knew, for once in his life Fez wasn't babbling on about secrets; perhaps because they were his own.

Some details of Fez's trip had also been changed. For example, the adventure had also gone from a one man journey to a friend-filled one. As soon as he heard it would be a road trip, Kelso had invited himself along much to Fez's delight. The days were soon packed with the two travelers talking non-stop about their trip as they planned out the most important parts of it. And for Fez and Kelso the most important parts included which restaurants they would stop to eat at and what car games they were going to play on the way.

Yes, these past few days had been some very long days. Luckily Hyde and the girls were going to be rewarded for having to listen to the dynamic duo's constant and useless rambling by getting some Fez-and-Kelso-free moments for the next few…days…weeks…months…they still weren't quite sure, but they were going to enjoy it!

Today was the day that their break was supposed to begin but looking around one wouldn't be able to tell that anyone was leaving home. The new age Lewis and Clark were not double checking that they had everything, they weren't loading up their bags, they weren't even saying goodbye to their friends; instead they stood in the driveway, both grinning like idiots, as Fez smacked his suitcase into Kelso over and over again as if trying to see who would give up first Kelso or the luggage. So far it was a tough call.

"A road trip with Monk and Potsie." Hyde said to Donna as he watched Fez deliver another swing at Kelso, "You couldn't pay me a thousand dollars to go on that trip."

Donna smiled at her friend's comment with slight amusement. But when she saw a figure coming up from behind Hyde, her amusement doubled and she struggled to hide her smile.

"Looks like you're about to do it for a lot less." She managed to say before moving away from the back porch where she and Hyde were standing at.

Watching the redhead walk off Hyde frowned. He was confused by her words but before he could say anything a chipper voice and smiling face in front of him pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Okay Steven, I've got you all packed!" Jackie happily announced lifting up his obviously full, army green, duffle bag.

"Packed for what?"

Jackie beamed at him, "Your trip."

"Jackie." He began, keeping his Zen intact, "By trip I hope mean something that involves having some kind of 'circle.'"

"_No_. Your trip to California. With Michael and Fez." she replied making it sound like they had had this discussion before but the expression on Hyde's face showed that they clearly hadn't; however Jackie ignored the look and continued on, "Don't worry, I packed everything you need. Toothbrush, razor, t-shirt, plenty of pretty pictures of me…do not let Fez or Michael get a hold of them!" she pointed her finger at him then went back to going over the items in the bag, "Your jeans and…"

But Hyde didn't want to hear any more.

"Jackie!" he raised his voice just a tad to get her attention, "I'm not going to California with Bert and Ernie. I never said I was going to California with them."

"I know." the former cheerleader nodded her head, "But I did. And I'm Jackie Burkhart, I always win."

Hyde was not intimidated as he stared Jackie down, "Well not this time. I'm not going."

"Yes, you are." Jackie argued, she wasn't going down without a fight.

He kept his cool and replied, "No, I'm not."

Jackie decided two could play this game and turned on her own Zen, crossing her arms over her chest the relaxing her facial features, "Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

Knowing she wouldn't get what she wanted this way—ever since he taught her how to be Zen years ago she'd never been able to out-Zen him—Jackie decided to change her technique to Old Faithful. In hopes of getting rid of her defensive appearance, Jackie uncrossed her arms from in front of her chest and hung them at her sides while making her frown fade into a look of innocence.

"But Steven…" she began to say, her voice small.

Straight-faced Hyde watched his girlfriends brown eyes become large and sad like a puppy dog's, he was unaffected by the sight but as soon as he saw the faintest of quivers on Jackie's lower lip he felt his Zen crack. He felt a pang of panic, he knew what she was up to and there was no way of escaping it. Unless…

Before Jackie could pull her lip out completely to form her invincible pout, Hyde covered his shaded eyes with his right palm. The look was powerless as long as you never actually saw it.

"Jackie, forget it." Hyde argued, one hand still covering his eyes while the other was up and open in front of him, "I'm not going to California."

"Okay, fine." Jackie agreed, in a pleasant tone at that.

That was too easy.

Cautiously, Hyde very slowly uncovered his eyes so that he could see his girlfriend, hoping this hadn't been a trap and he'd come face to face with her pout. However, Jackie's pout was nowhere in sight; because Jackie had moved on to her second greatest weapon. Hyde was still trying to figure out what had caused her to give in so quickly; his concentration was so focused on Jackie's face, looking for an answer, that he missed the sight of her right foot crashing against his left shin—pointy tip first.

A grunt of pain escaped Hyde lips before he dropped onto the flowered patio chair behind him, applying pressure to the wounded area.

Jackie titled her head to the side, "What were you saying?"

It wasn't that she liked seeing her boyfriend in pain, she just really liked to have things of her way. And really, he had the kick coming to him; trying to sidestep her pout like that. What a dumbass.

After a few seconds, Hyde started to slowly lift his head back up, "I was saying. I'm not going to California."

The brunette's eyes widened—she had not been expecting that answer. But it was okay, she had another plan…just liked Hyde had another shin. With her hands balled into fists at her side, Jackie bent her knee, moving her foot back, her eye right on target of Hyde's right shin.

"Stop!" Hyde immediately spoke up when he saw where she was aiming; when her actions halted he heaved a sigh that seemed to be only filled halfway with relief, "Alright, look. If you can give me three _good_ reasons why I should go on this death trip, I'll _think_ about going."

"Okay!" Jackie answered back almost too cheerfully, small gleeful clap attached, before she reached into the back pocked of her jeans and pulled out a piece of folded paper. She opened it up and stood up straighter, tossed her hair behind her shoulder then cleared her throat before beginning to read her prepared list, "Number one. Fez is our friend and friends help each other out, Steven."

Friendship was something every important to Hyde, to him his friends were his family and he made sure to help them out whenever he could—preferably without them knowing too much about it—but going all the way to California with them?

Hyde looked up at Jackie, "You're gonna have to do better than that, Jackie."

Lifting a knowing finger in the air, Jackie read the rest of reason number one off her paper, "Fez, help us. If it wasn't for him you would be sad, alone, and still have that ugly, fuzzy caterpillar on your upper lip. And I…" she looked up from her list, "Well I would still be pretty and successful but I wouldn't have you and that would make me sad. Fez helped us find our love for each other again, Steven, and I think it's only right that return the favor and help him find his love."

"If you're saying 'we.'" He started to say, leaning back into the chair with his arms crossed over his chest, "then why is it _me_ who would be going on this trip?"

Jackie gave Hyde's question some thought before shrugging her shoulders, "Okay, then I'll go instead." She declared as she began to fold her list back up, "It'll just be me, Fez, and Michael on the road all the way to Cali…"

As soon as the words left Jackie's mouth, Hyde did not like them and his hand shot out to grab her wrist, keeping her from walking off towards the boys. "Hold it. Either I go or neither of us goes." He said and Jackie smiled at his protectiveness but he wasn't yet convinced so he added, "What's number two?"

She reopened her sheet of paper and read the second reason quickly then looked over at Hyde, "Steven, if you don't go it'll just be Fez and Michael. They'll get lost before they leave Wisconsin."

"More make-out room for us in the basement then." he replied with a smirk but Jackie's unamused told him she was truly concerned. And when he thought about it, it really was a valid point since both men had a hard enough time completing the cartoon mazes printed on the kids menu's at restaurants. Hyde lifted his chin in Jackie's direction, "Number three?"

A grin stretched out onto Jackie's pink lips as she delivered her final reason, her last shot at getting Steven to do this, "It'll make me happy."

Hyde sat there just staring at Jackie with his Zen masking his face but her smile never faded. She knew she had hooked him. However, she wasn't proven correct until some seconds later when Hyde wordlessly stood up from his seat and grabbed his bag from her hands—never letting his eyes catch hers—then walked off.

Jackie was watching Hyde walk away, her smile still in place, when all of a sudden Donna appeared at her side.

"Wow, Jackie, you actually did it. I'm impressed." Donna said truthfully as she slapped the five into her shorter friend's waiting palm.

"Like I said Donna," Jackie began to say, her smile growing more and more, "I'm Jackie Burkhart, I always win."

While the two girls sat down in the patio chairs to discuss how they were going to spend the next few guy-free days, Hyde approached his two new travel companions who had stopped smacking each other with their carryon bags just a few moments ago.

Fez grinned largely at the sight of his friend, "Ah! There is the missing musketeer!"

"Yeah, about time Hyde." Kelso said, not sounding as happy as the foreigner, "You getting here late is gonna knock us off schedule."

"Right and you two hitting each other with your suitcases was right on schedule." Hyde shot back in a Zen manner.

"Yes it was." Fez nodded before retrieving a pen and paper from his pocket, "Hit Kelso with suitcase, 11:15 to 11:30. Check!"

Hyde then watched as Fez used his pen to make a mark on the sheet of paper. Part of Hyde wondered what else was on that lists, the other part of him didn't think he wanted to know. He wasn't exactly looking forward to this trip, not that he had a lot of time to get used to the idea. He was still upset that Jackie had signed him on for this Abbot and Costello movie without even running it by him first. Sure, Fez and Kelso were his friends but they were better in smaller doses. And this wouldn't be the first road trip that he had taken with them. It would however be the longest. And the road trips before had included other people, most usually Forman; but this time he was on his own. It would just be him, Kelso, and Fez.

This was going to be a long trip.

A much as he wanted to delay getting it started, he figured that the sooner it began the sooner it would be over with. Maybe he could sleep most of the way and drive only at night, when the two of them would be sleeping. He'd get the small doses of them and they wouldn't get to California with black and blue arms.

"Kelso, man, where's your van?" Hyde asked after noticing it wasn't in the driveway.

Though it had never been discussed what vehicle would get them to California, Hyde had assumed it would be Kelso's van. After all Fez didn't have a vehicle and the van had made it to California, years ago. And it was the biggest vehicle any of them had which made it perfect for traveling, it even had a little barrier between the front seats and the back. Something Hyde was sure he would use often.

"In the driveway at my parent's house." answered Kelso.

Hyde frowned slightly at this news, "What's it doing there?"

"Being a new house for all the stray neighborhood kitties." Fez was happy to report.

"Yeah." Kelso confirmed with a nod, "There's like six of the living under the hood of it and everything."

The lines on Hyde's forehead deepened, "Aren't we taking it to California?"

"Can't." Kelso said as if it were as simple as that.

"Why not?"

This time it was Fez who answered back and in a very angry voice with matching frowning face, "Because it is the new home for the neighborhood kitties, you cat-home-stealing sonofabitch!"

"Fez, man, calm down. I meant after we found a better home for the cats." Hyde said, not only to calm Fez down but because he wasn't too keen on the idea of some cats living in an unsafe environment like that. Any animal living within a five mile radius of The Kelso Residence was risking their lives.

Kelso shook his head once, "Nope."

Now Hyde knew there was something more to the story. There had to be more than just a couple of cats stopping them from making their road trip vehicle be Kelso's van.

Hyde folded his arms in front of his chest, already preparing for the obscured answer."What'd you do?"

"I…I lost the keys to the van." Kelso admitted, looking down like a shamed child. He moved his eyes up and when he saw Hyde looking unimpressed by his story, he knew he had to come out with the truth. He dropped the pity me act and let out an exaggerated sigh, "Fine! I locked the keys to my van in my van!"

"You locked your keys inside your van?" Hyde repeated, Zen on the outside but on the inside he couldn't believe that this was the guy he was about to go on a week long—possibly longer—road trip.

Fez nodded, "It is true. I was there when I happened. It was funny." He shared with a smile that fell as he went on to add, "And then it just got sad."

"Why didn't you break the window?" questioned Hyde.

The expression on Kelso's face made it seem like Hyde had asked why he hadn't smeared the window with peanut butter, "I couldn't do that Ingrid!"

Hyde wasn't sure if he really wanted to know but couldn't help but ask, "Ingrid?"

"Yeah," the tall pretty man nodded, "cuz all hot German girls are named Ingrid and my van's a hot German car."

"What about a coat hanger?" Hyde asked, ignoring the explanation he'd been given.

Kelso however was still on that topic of conversation which made his face skew with confusion, "Why would I name my van 'A Coat Hanger?'"

Once again Hyde paid his older friend no attention and instead focused on finding out how these two had planned on getting to California. As far as he knew Fez didn't have a car and now Kelso's vehicle was a really bad hotel for cats. Hyde suddenly hoped that Jackie hadn't signed his El Camino as their form of transportation. He didn't want to put his baby through that, both the long road and having both Kelso and Fez in there for hours on end. Plus there was no backseat for him to escape to, for that he'd much rather take the bus.

Looking at the master mind of the trip, Hyde asked, "So if Kelso's van's out, how're we getting to California?"

As soon as he was asked the question, Fez smiled a proud grin at Hyde and lifted his right index finger. Taking Fez's silent message to wait, Hyde stayed quiet and watched as the dark skinned man retrieved a small rectangular object from his back pocket. He moved his pointed finger to the rectangular object and pressed a button. Seconds later the door of Forman garage slowly rose up revealing the Vista Cruiser, sitting there, waiting.

"Tada!" Fez exclaimed happily with his arms up in the air.

"The Cruiser?" Hyde stared at his best friend's car before remembering who was in charge of this vehicle now that Eric wasn't using it, "Red know we're taking The Cruiser?"

Silently Fez and Kelso exchanged looks before Kelso moved his arms into a 'Y' shape and both men repeated, "Tada!"

Though the look Hyde's face was expressionless, his friends knew from it that he wasn't on board with their idea of taking the Vista Cruiser and not telling Red. But what other option did they have, take the Vista Cruiser and tell Red? That would have the same effects as their plan now, only with their current plan they could avoid Red kicking their ass for a good few days. Maybe if Hyde knew the details of it all.

"Hyde, man, it's not we haven't thought this through." Kelso tried to explain but hearing that there was more to this plan only seemed make Hyde dislike it even more but Kelso went on, "Look, Red's bald right? And old people are bald, so that makes Red an old people. And old people forget things. Red'll probably forget all about the Vista Cruiser…psh! He'll probably think Eric drove it to Africa or something!"

"Well with that kind of logic…see ya." Hyde said before turning the other way.

While Fez and Kelso exchanged confused frowns behind Hyde's back, Jackie saw her boyfriend walking away from the duo and quickly handed Donna the movie section of the paper before hurrying to him.

"Steven, what's going?" she asked.

"Jackie, you didn't set me up on road trip, you set me up with a death sentence." Hyde told her and when he saw her scowl he elaborated, "They wanna take the Cruiser."

His girlfriend nodded, "I know."

"They didn't tell Red."

"I know." she repeated.

Hyde's frown had deepened, "Jackie, if by some miracle I make it through this trip alive when I get back home Red'll kill me for letting the take the car without his permission."

"Steven, Mr. Forman is not going to kill you for letting Michael and Fez take Eric's car." Jackie tried to reason with him, "We'll just figure out a way to blame it on Eric."

"How, Jackie? The guy's in Africa." Hyde reminded.

Jackie took a few seconds to think up an idea and so far came up with blanks, but she quickly waved her hand to dismiss it, "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

All this talk about the Forman family made Hyde remember a very important member of it.

"What about Mrs. Forman?" he asked, "I can't leave for a week long road trip without telling her anything."

This wasn't a weak attempt to get out of going—it was actually pretty strong. He knew it wouldn't be right to leave without telling Mrs. Forman goodbye or saying anything about the trip beforehand. He hadn't even had time to write her a note. If he left like this she would worry and cry and he didn't want her to go through that. Just like he didn't want to go through this road trip.

"Don't worry, Steven, I'll handle the Formans." Jackie said placing her small hands on his upper arm, "You just go and have fun."

Hyde looked back at her, "I can't do both, Jackie."

Off in the background Fez and Kelso had started loading their luggage into the Vista Cruiser and Donna had already walked over to tell the two 'goodbye'—Jackie had seen all of this and guided Hyde towards the vehicle.

"Come on, Steven, you're gonna make us late…I mean you're gonna make you guys late." Jackie corrected her slip of her and Donna already having plans to see a movie in the next half hour.

Fez and Kelso climbed into the front of the car. Kelso going through the passenger door and since it was his shift first, Fez slid into the driver's seat. Deciding that keeping his distance would be better for all three of them, Hyde pulled open the left back door of the Cruiser and tossed his duffle bag in before getting a loving sendoff kiss from Jackie and then reluctantly getting into the back seat.

When the Vista Cruiser roared to life Jackie quickly stuck her head into the backseat window to give Hyde one more kiss for luck; as she moved away she caught a faint smile on his lips which made her smile grow as she raised a hand to wave bye. Donna soon copied Jackie's actions and the girls continued to wave the three off until the car was out of their sight.

0o0o0o

Their first stop had been at Schiffy's Gas-N-Go because even though the Vista Cruiser wasn't used all too often now that Eric was away, the amount of the gas in the tank had been considerably low. And since they were at the gas station anyway, Kelso had decided to take advantage of the trip and get some road trip snacks while the gas was being pumped.

However the tank had been filled minutes ago and Kelso had yet to return to the car leaving Fez and Hyde to wait for him in the parked car.

"Okay, I got everything we need." Were the first words out of Kelso's mouth when he got back, sat down and began to rifle though the large paper sack in his arms, "Candy, cookies, powdered doughnuts, some soda…"

"Kelso, man, didn't you get anything that doesn't have sugar?" Hyde wanted to know—the last thing he needed was these two hopped up on sugar.

The other man looked into the bag and pulled out a familiar item "Beer."

"Think I'm gonna like this road trip." Hyde said with a smirk before extending out a hand, "Give me one."

Following Hyde's words Kelso pulled a can out of the pack and handed it to Hyde before pulling out another for himself. The sounds of tops popping filled the still immobile car.

"Ow!" Kelso exclaimed a second after his can was opened.

"What happened? Break your nail there, Michelle?" teased Hyde.

"Yeah." Kelso answered while examining his finger until he realized what he'd said, "I mean no!"

Hyde snickered before making another statement that caused Kelso to yelp in hurt manner before trying to defend himself. This continued on but Fez was paying it no attention as he seemed to have been pulled into a whole other world at the mention of a single word.

_1977_

_Laurie Forman pushed open the side door of her parent's basement looking for a new victim. She was disappointed when she found the room almost completely empty sans for the one person seated on the old sofa. However, when she saw who the person was she perked back up. It was Fez. He was pretty weird but an easy target._

_She strolled towards him, a seductive smile on her lips, "Hi Fez."_

"_Hello Laurie." he replied in a sad tone._

_Laurie frowned and her flirtatious voice disappeared, "What's with you?"_

"_It is not fair." Fez started to share, "When everyone else talks I am Fez the listener. But when Fez wants to talk nobody wants to listen!"_

"_Maybe it's because no one can understand what you're saying." Laurie quipped but when she saw his face drop, she realized this wasn't the best approach to get what she wanted, so she put on her best smile and dropped into the seat next to him, "I mean I'll listen to you!"_

_Fez looked cautiously at the blonde, "You will?"_

"_Sure. But in return you've got to do something for me." Laurie explained as she placed her right hand on his left knee and smiled evilly at him._

_Moving his eyes from her face to her hand and then back again, Fez quickly understood what she was saying; and even though he thought of her as a another goddess who he worshiped from afar he shook his head and moved her hand back onto her own lap._

"_I am sorry Laurie but I cannot." He stood his ground, "I am an honest man now."_

_The blonde rolled her eyes, "Not that. _Nails_."_

"_Huh?"_

"_Let me paint your nails and I'll listen to whatever you wanna jumble on about." she told him and then added, "I need to practice doing nails for school."_

_A look of uncertainty remained on Fez's face, "Isn't painted nails for girls?"_

"_It's the seventies." Laurie replied with a quick shrug._

"_I do not know…"_

_Laurie smiled, "I'll let you pick the color."_

"_Okay!" _

_With a grin of excitement Laurie reached into her purse and pulled out two small bottles, "Big Apple Red or Beach Bum Blue?"_

_She handed the two bottles of nail polish to Fez so that he could get a better look at the colors. While Fez examined the two colors Laurie got up from the sofa and moved over to Hyde's regular seat—after moving it closer to the right side of the sofa._

"_Big Apple Red." Fez decided with a smile as he handed her the bottle._

_After putting the blue nail polish on the table she shook the red bottle and shook it with one hand, using the other hand to grab Fez's hands and place them flat on the arm of the sofa that was between them and was now serving as a makeshift table. Laurie slowly unscrewed the cap and brought the small brush to Fez's right pinky._

"_So you're an honest man now?" Laurie asked, her voice becoming alluring once more—she did always enjoy a challenge. _

"_Yes." He replied with a dreamy smile as he thought about his newfound love, "Her name is Caroline Allison Dupree. She is beautiful, kind, and also very thoughtful. She even sewed her name into my shirt collar." Fez explained before using the hand Laurie had yet to work on to pull at his collar so that Laurie could see the name 'Caroline' sewn into it with big black letters. His smile remained in place, "Isn't she thoughtful?" _

_Laurie said nothing, her face showed how creepy she thought it was but all she did was grab his hand and put it back in its place._

_Oblivious to Laurie's expression Fez shared more, "Tomorrow is our anniversary."_

"_How long've you been going out?" she asked finishing up on his right index finger._

"_One week!"_

"_One week?" Laurie scoffed, "What is that lint?"_

_Fez shrugged, "I do not know. But she did give me a list of the presents that would be a good choice for me to get her."_

_He reached into his pocket with his free hand and grabbed a folded sheet of yellow paper. Without a second thought he handed it to Laurie and then placed his hand back on the armrest. _

_Curiously Laurie opened the paper and her eyes feel upon a long list with several exaggerated gifts on it; including, expensive jewelry, perfume, a swimming pool, and a pony. Laurie quickly folded it the list back up and tossed it on the table as if she were afraid she'd catch some of the crazy from merely touching the paper._

"_I went with a necklace." He shared._

_Laurie nodded and went back to painting Fez's nails, "Good for you."_

"_Oh and I will be giving her my daily schedule tomorrow too."Fez added, happy to be able to talk about his relationship with Caroline and know that someone was listening, "But it is not part of her gift, she told me to give it to her."_

"_Isn't your schedule just eating candy and doing dumb things with your loser friends?"_

_Fez scowled, "I do other things too! I eat other food and spend time with my host family. And…and sometimes I need….alone time."_

"_Why would she wanna know any of that?" Laurie interrupted with her question before he could continue._

"_So that she knows what I am doing at every second of the day." Fez answered, not seeing any problem, "She said she would even use it to check in on me. Isn't she sweet?"_

_Her blue eyes remained on her work as Laurie muttered, "Sounds like a psycho to me."_

"_Yes, yes she is." Fez agreed still in a dreamy like state._

"_A psycho is bad" Laurie reminded looking annoyed at the fact that she had to clear this up, "It means she's crazy."_

"_Caroline is not crazy. She is good not bad and I love her!" Fez declared with a scowl indented on his forehead._

"_Fine, do what you want. I don't care." she said in a tone of voice that backed her words as she continued to paint Big Apple Red on Fez's nails; then suddenly she remembered something, "You know I went to school with a really crazy girl. She used to trim her boyfriends hair while he slept and then used that hair as the stuffing in her pillows."_

_Suddenly Fez became fearful as he remembered catching a glimpse of scissors in Caroline's purse, "Her name was not Caroline…was it?"_

"_Nah." She shook her head, "It was Suzanne Dup…" she looked up and frowned, "Does Caroline have a sister?"_

"_I…I do not know." Fez stuttered._

_Laurie shrugged again, going back to painting as she spoke, "Just watch out. You're a good guy."_

"_You think I am a good guy?" Fez asked, grinning madly._

_Seeing the smile cause Laurie to roll her eyes, "Relax, it's not like I said you were hot."_

"_So I am not hot?" a sad voice asked._

_Laurie looked at Fez with an unamused expression, her eyes scanning over him before focusing on his nails again, "You pull off the tight pants pretty good."_

_Hearing this Fez's large smile reappeared even bigger than before._

1980

And now, years later thinking back to that memory, Fez had that same sized grin on his face as he ignored the backdrop noises of Kelso and Hyde.

After Laure had told him he looked good in tight pants, he always kept the comment in mind, and when packing for this trip he made sure to pack plenty of tight pants. She had also been right about Caroline but he never did get to tell her. But when he did see her, he would be sure to tell her all about it. He couldn't wait to see her.

With his smile still in place Fez reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out the postcard he'd folded in half and stuck in there. He gazed at the front of the card and his smile grew with some more.

Fez quickly placed the card back into his pocket for safe keeping before excitedly starting up the car, more than ready to start his search.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__There you go Chapter 2 of "Runnin' Down a Dream" Again I am sorry for the lateness!_

_So what did you think? Like it? Hate it? Have mixed feelings? Lemme know in a review!_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day! _


	3. Into The Great Wide Open

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing! Especially not the Tom Petty and The Heartbreaker song that is used in this chapter._

_**Author's Note: **__Hello all! How are you all this week? Hope you're doing well! Today I have for you a new update for this story! I know I haven't updated it in awhile but I do have my reasons, got busy writing other stories, was waiting to to see if the FL fans I knew from before were going to read, and of course the passing of Lisa Robin Kelly. It's very sad and for awhile I did think about discontinuing the story but thank to some wonderful writers on here who supported me so much during that time told me it would be better to continue the story is Lisa Robin Kelly's memory and so I'm going to do just that! I hope you all don't mind. I would also like to thank all of you wonderful readers and reviewers for your fabulous support! It really means so much that you're enjoying the story so much! Some special thank yous to JB (MidniteRaine) who supported me so much with this story in the beginning stages of this story, I even used one of his lines in this chapter and also a big thank you to Mystery Girl 911 who helped me out with the song stuff. This chapter is mostly flashback, I hope that's okay. Thought some FL interaction would be nice and it takes place during season 5's Celebration Day. Thanks so much once again to everyone! I hope you all like this chapter, please review if you have the chance, sorry for the lateness, and as always, Enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter 3- Into The Great Wide Open**

_1978- Night Before Graduation_

"_Aye. Donna really likes the hard stuff." Fez said to himself as he rubbed his upper left arm that had become injured after he walked in on a naked Donna who soon began throwing things at him—one of those things being a very hard rock, "Poor Eric."_

_Fez continued to walk along the path around the lake with slight disappointment on his face and in his heart. He had come to the area closer to the lake in search of Laurie and her topless swinging but had not been able to find her. Instead he found a naked Donna which he did not mind seeing until she started throwing things at him and besides if there was a naked Donna that meant there was a naked Eric around here too and Fez did not want to see that. _

_He figured the best thing would be to give up on looking for Laurie and head back to camp at least there there would be the chocolatey goodness of s'mores! Knowing that chocolate was waiting for him made Fez a little less sad about having a boob free night, he went walking on, past some large bushes and tall grass when he suddenly saw a flash of something gold and majestic. His attention was instantly grabbed and his eyes stayed glued to the sunshine colored item and he hoped it was what he thought it was._

_Crouching down, Fez carefully stepped closer towards the bush that was the only barrier between him and his new found treasure. Once he was close enough he peeked through the branches and saw that his wishing and hoping had worked! The golden surprise was a sister golden hair surprise and not just anyone's sister's, it was Eric Forman's sister!_

_As soon as he spotted the profile side of Laurie's face Fez could barely contain his smile; however, he did manage to keep himself from bursting through and hurrying over to her._

'_Okay Fez, old boy. There's Laurie and this time we know it is her, now we must be smooth. Very smooth. Smooth like a baby's butt! Now do you remember what you are going to say?' his inside voice asked himself and he soon nodded his head, 'Hello Laurie, are you happy to see me or are you just naked?' his voice sounded sexy until he realized he mixed things up and his seductive face collapsed into a frown 'No, no that is not it.'_

_While Fez tried to get his lines in order Laurie heard a faint shuffling sound coming from the bushes not too far away from her and she swung her head towards them. She didn't see anything but still felt as if she were being watched, she scowled at the plant._

"_Did you seriously come back here?" she asked sounding more annoyed than angry, "Even Oedipus had enough sense to gouge out his eyes." _

_Fez froze as he heard this and he even looked a bit frightened too, "Aye, it sounds like Laurie like the rough stuff too. The really rough stuff. Perhaps I should use another line…oh I know!" his inner voice became suavey once again as he practiced his new pick up line, "Why Laurie, it is a good thing that I have my library card with me because you are naked."_

_He thought that was a good new opening line and decided to add an extra touch of some waggling eyebrows. The two patches of dark hair began to move around but Fez wasn't sure if he was moving them in the right way, he didn't have a mirror but that didn't stop him from trying to see what his eyebrows looked like. He moved his eyes to look upwards but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't see anything—this included the bush he crashed right into._

_The sound of Fez falling into the bush startled Laurie and she took a few steps back._

"_Eric?" she sounded a tiny bit cautious._

_Hearing not his name but the name of his friend and Laure's brother be called out instead made Fez's head pop up with a puzzled expression on his face and he only became more confused when he saw Laurie staring back at him—fully clothed._

"_Why are you not naked?" he asked right away, still lying on the ground. Luckily he realized on his own that that was not best opening line so he tried again this time with more of his suavey tone of voice, "I mean, no I am not Eric, but for you I could be…."his sexy voice faded, "Even though that is weird and creepy, but I always knew you were a kinky one."_

_Laurie just stared back at him, "It's about time you showed up, Fez."_

_Fez carefully rose to his feet, his confused frown still steady on his face and if anything it had deepened when he heard the blonde's statement._

"_You were waiting for me?" he asked in disbelief._

"_Yeah." Laurie nodded "I told you I was coming out here."_

_He thought back to when Laurie made her announcement of going for a walk by the lake he was sure there were others around then. Jackie for sure and maybe Donna and Eric a few feet away…_

_As if she had been reading his thoughts Laurie spoke up with a quick reminder, "I touched your knee when I said it."_

"_I thought you were just being nice." Fez thought out loud, "Like when you sat next to me on the way over here and when we were sitting at the campfire. And you told me that the Loch Ness Monster was not here but in Africa. And when you let me play with your hair and then made me a double layer s'more…"a sudden realization hit Fez as he heard himself explain all of Laurie's actions, "You were flirting with me!"_

_With a smirk on her lips Laurie sat herself on the large bolder between the water and the plants Fez had come from, "Subtly. I didn't wanna scare you off."_

_Fez grinned a very large grin. Laurie Forman had been flirting with him! Fez! It was a miracle! Suddenly the smile on Fez's face dropped and he looked at Laurie, hoping that his eyes were not giving away his worries._

"_This…" he played with his fingers nervously, "this is not a Burn Fez Before He Leaves America burn…is it?"_

"_No." Laurie rolled her eyes, why did people have such a hard time believing that she was doing something nice and didn't have an alternative motive? "I was just trying to say thank you I guess."_

_Still confused Fez asked, "To me? Fez?"_

_Laurie nodded then went on to explain, "You were the one to convince my dork of a brother to let me come along. If it wasn't for you I'd be stuck at home watching Daddy try to get back his wife from all those hormones and little yellow pills. It's actually more sad than it is funny."_

_Taking a seat beside her on the large rock, Fez nodded in an understanding way, "You could have just said thank you." he informed her and as Laurie's looked away in an almost ashamed way Fez's grin broke out onto his face, "But I am glad you did it this way."_

_His words and tone sounded quite honest and it made Laurie flash him a ditzy smile. Fez smiled back but soon another question entered his mind and he furrowed his brows slightly._

"_But if you were waiting for me, why did you ask for Eric?"_

_She rolled her eyes, not so much at Fez's question but rather the previous antics of her brother, "Because when I was getting ready to break my topless rides on the rope swing the little perv walked in and saw me."_

"_That lucky sonofabitch." Fez muttered causing Laurie to scowl at what he'd just said, "Oh I mean…no, no I do mean he is a lucky sonofabitch."_

_This time Laurie's eye roll was because of Fez, however it was also accompanied by a faint smile playing at her lips._

"_Is that why you are not naked?" He asked out loud._

_Instead of frowning or being offended by what the foreigner had said, Laurie merely nodded her head and began her explanation, "Yeah, I didn't wanna take the chance of the freak coming back for a second peak." She told Fez, her face suddenly showing disappointment, "It's too bad too, I bet I could've broken my record."_

"_I think so too." Fez confirmed, "And I think you should do it. You will not have to worry about anyone seeing you either because I am here now and I will stand guard."_

_Laurie's eyebrow rose up a tad, "You'd do that?"_

"_Yes. I will stay here and protect you and your glorious nakedness from all the freaks and perverts who try to watch you." Fez assured and as Laurie pushed herself off of the rock, his determined facial expression faded and he realized he may have made a horrible mistake, "Except me. Right?"_

_Fez's question was answered by Laurie's yellow tank top flying into his face. As Fez pulled the shirt away he heard her say something along the lines of 'Except you, Fez.' He wasn't very focused on what he heard but was paying plenty of attention to what he saw in front of him, Laurie hurrying off to the big tree, where the rope swing hung above the lake water, in nothing but light green panties. _

_As soon as she was close enough Laurie grabbed the rope and hung on as swung herself over the water, counting out loud to make sure she beat her personal record. Fez barely heard her counting and instead remained focused on Laurie. Her glorious bosom swinging back and forth in the chilly night air with the moonlight beaming down. However, Laurie's chest area wasn't the only area that Fez was looking at, he was taking in all of her, every detail about her but mostly the smile on her face._

_Of course Fez had seen her smile before, when she was flirting wit Kelso, when she was being mean to Eric, and when she was pretending to be innocent in front of Red but he had never seen her smile such a happy smile like this. It was beautiful; he wished that she wore it more often._

_There was an unexpected splash heard that instantly pulled Fez from his thoughts just in time to see Laurie's head pop out from under the water—her happy smile now doubled in size._

"_I did it! I broke my record!" she shouted to him._

"_Yes, you did! And a good jump at the end! A perfect ten!" Fez called back at her, "And because there were two, twenty!"_

_Laurie's happy smile slowly began to witch to a more sultry one, "Are you coming in?"_

_Fez heard the question but didn't answer right away—he couldn't believe she was actually asking him. He looked to his left and then to his right, looking for anyone else that Laurie could have possibly been talking too. Even after not finding anyone, he still wasn't convinced. He looked back at Laurie and with a questioning look on his face, pointed at himself._

"_Yes you, Fez." she tried to sound annoyed but his nervous actions were funny and even kind of cute._

_Afraid that if he waited too long he would break this spell he was lucky enough to stumble in, Fez sat back on the rock and began to take of his shoes and socks as fast as he could. "Yes, yes I am coming," He said as he undid his pants and took them off but left on his underwear, "And I am also going to beat your record, missy!"_

"_You're gonna break my record of topless rides on the rope swing?" Laurie asked, floating in the water still._

"_Oh right!" he quickly remembered and then pulled off his t-shirt leaving him in only his underwear too. _

_Giving his best Tarzan yell Fez took off running the same path Laurie had taken to the rope swing and jumped onto the rope, holding on tightly. However unlike Laurie, Fez didn't count any of his swings and his eyes filled with fear as soon as he looked down at the water he was swinging above._

"_Aye no!" he cried out in despair._

_Laurie swam towards him to offer some support, "Come on, you big baby, jump in."_

"_No…no… no thank you. I am fine right here." Fez answered back, his grip tightening on the moving rope. _

"_Just let go."_

_Fez tucked his head closer to the rope and whined, "No."_

"_You'll be fine." Laurie assured though not without rolling her eyes first._

"_But what if there are sea monsters in there? Or if the water is too cold?" he expressed only a few of his worries as the rope slowly rocked him back and forth._

"_The water isn't cold." She told him, "And it's a lake there aren't any sea monsters. I promise."_

_For several seconds Fez just stared at Laurie wondering if he could trust her or not. He had seen the things she had done to Eric but she had been wanting to change herself and her ways._

_He took a deep breath and nodded before at last letting go of the rope and shouting out, "Geronimo!"_

_There was a big splash as Fez fell into the water only to emerge seconds later with wide firey eyes glaring at a grinning Laurie Forman, "You daughterofabitch! The water is cold! You lied to me!"_

"_What are you gonna do about it?" Laurie asked floating in the water, flashing him a sexy smile as if she were trying to challenge him._

"_Oh I am going to get you." Fez replied, slowly moving towards her in a stalking like manner, "And I am going to get you good."_

_Fez was getting closer and closer but Laure never moved; she stayed in her spot, her smile remaining in place. She had never seen this determined and almost aggressive side of the foreigner and she had to admit, she didn't hate it. She didn't know what Fez was going to do to her but she had in no way seen the splash of water being sent her way._

_Laurie frowned, confused by Fez's actions and the proud smile he wore; she wanted to wipe it off his face and so she tried to do just that. She pushed water in his direction, hitting him right in the face._

_Before either of them knew it they had begun a splash war. The sounds of the water being splatter around were mixed in with sounds of the giggle coming from the both of them as they chased after each other in the water, creating a fun and carefree atmosphere that they each really needed right now._

_They were having so much fun they didn't want it to end but suddenly it did and neither remembered who gave the last splash or who had won the battle. By the time their splashing had stopped they were less than a foot away from each other, staring into each other eyes._

"_So Fez, you ever done it in the water?" Laurie questioned, making the space between them even smaller as she wrapped her arm around the back of his neck._

"_No, no." He replied, his voice sounding quite nervous, "It is because I am so hot that when I get in the water I make it warm. It is not because I…"_

"_I meant sex." Laurie interrupted in a deadpan tone before he could say something she really didn't want to hear._

_Fez leaned threw his head back, "Ooohh!" he then moved his head back to look at Laurie with his face serious again, "No. I have not done that. Or the other thing. In the water."_

"_Well do you wanna try it?" she asked, moving her right arm to join her left one behind Fez's neck._

_He shook his head, "No."_

"_What?!"_

"_I mean I do, I do." Fez quickly assured, putting his hands on her arms to keep her from moving away from him before he could explain, "But did do not think it is a good idea to do it here. We could anger The Lady of the Lake."_

_Laurie nodded, "Good point." She gave it a quick thought then said, "We could go back to camp and do it in the tent."_

"_But everyone is there." he reminded her, "Laurie, if we are going to do it I want it to special with only the two of us and our sexiness."_

_Getting frustrated with Fez and the way he was acting like such a girl, Laurie rolled her eyes again as she untangled her arms from around him but stayed nearby, "Fine, you pick a place."_

_Fez gave it more thought than Laurie had and so it took him a little longer to come up with a suggestion, "There is Kelso's van."_

_She looked back at him with an unimpressed look on her face, "You want me to have sex with you in a stupid van that used to belong to my stupid ex-boyfriend? What kind of girl do you think I am?"_

"_That kind of girl." Came Fez's hopeful reply._

_A second or two passed before Laurie shrugged her shoulders, "Yeah, okay."_

_With that said, Laurie took Fez's hand in her own and began to head for the shore._

_0o0o0o_

_Minutes later the pair had managed to sneak to Kelso's without being spotted by any of their fellow campers, who had been sitting around the campfire. As soon as Fez spotted the keys in the ignition, he knew that his friend's vehicle was unlocked and opened the back door for Laurie. She climbed inside and he soon joined her._

_Not more than a few seconds past after Fez sat down when Laurie straddled his lap. Her blue eyes held his brown ones; she had a sultry look on her face while he looked at her with a sense of wonderment. Suddenly he reached up to her face but instead of pulling her towards him for a kiss, he gently pushed a strand of her blonde locks behind her ear. _

"_You are beautiful, Laurie." he spoke softly, a smile on his lips._

_By now Laurie's look of desire had softened. She wasn't used to hearing things like this, especially not during a moment like this. The other guys she'd been with usually said that kind of stuff just to get her to where she and Fez were now, and once they were there they weren't exactly in the mood for talking much less pay her a compliment. Not wanting Fez to see this side of her, plus she was still a little weirded out by his words, she climbed off him._

"_Turn on the radio." She ordered, hoping that the background music would keep him from talking and saying something else that would catch her off guard._

"_Yes, ma'am!"_

_Fez swung his upper body over the front seats and reach out to turn on the car and it's radio. It took him a moment or two before he found a station but soon he did and the music of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers' American Girl filled the inside of the van._

"_After all it was a great big world_

_with lots of places to run to…"_

_He pushed away from the radio and joined Laurie back in the makeshift bed of pillows and a few blanket. Laurie was laying down, appearing to be lost in her thoughts until Fez broke her from them by speaking up._

"_Is that better my American girl?" he asked playfully._

_Laurie looked up at him and answered his question by grabbing the collar of his t-shirt, pulling him down to her and into a steamy passion filled kiss._

"_Oh yeah, all right. _

_Take it easy baby. _

_Make it last all night _

_She was an American girl._"

0o0o0o

"_Well it was kinda cold that night_

_She stood alone on the balcony _

_Yeah, she could hear…" _

The song was suddenly cut off by Hyde switching over from the cassette player to the actual radio. The lack of Tom Petty music instantly caught Fez's attention and he took his eyes off the road he was driving them on to glare at his friend sitting over on the passenger seat.

"Hey!" he exclaimed.

Hyde's eyes remained on the radio, trying to pick up a station, "Fez man, you've heard the song three times in a row. It's time for a change."

"But that is our song." Fez protested, his voice sounding of a mix between hurt and angry.

"See man," the curly haired man looked at his friend, "you having 'a song' with your best guy friend is the first strike for why you're having trouble getting a girl."

A frown indented its way onto Fez's head as he moved his head from Hyde to the road then back again, "That song is not Kelso and mine's song."

"Yeah." Kelso, who was seated in the middle seat in the front—he didn't want to get lonely in the back—"Our song is _You're_ _My Best Friend_ by Queen."

Now it was Hyde's turn to frown as he watched the two men exchange small smiles with the other. He was ready to make a comment about what he'd just witnessed when he suddenly realized there was a mystery at hand.

"So if the song's not yours and Barney Fife over here, who's song is it?'

"Um…Tom Petty's." Fez replied nervously, avoiding Hyde's stare by keeping his eyes on the road.

Hyde wasn't fooled and shook his head, "You said it was 'our' song. Who's 'our?'"

Fez looked uneasy at these questions; he did not want to tell his friends who they were looking for until they were in California. His reason behind this was that they would be too far away from home to go back and not help him. Because Fez wanted to stick to this plan he was forced to come up with an answer that would satisfy Hyde's curiosity for another day or two.

"Um our is…is me and…" he struggled for what to say next, "and myself….and I. That is our."

This was not the answer that would settle Hyde's curiosity.

"Who's song is it?"

"Uh mine and Tom Petty's?" he tried again, hoping this reply would work better—he even made a quick back story, "It feels like he is really singing to me."

Nodding his head once it looked like Hyde was convinced until he spoke, "Which part Fez, 'American' or 'girl?'"

"Ha American girl." The peanut section in the middle laughed, "Hey Fez, isn't that what you used to call Laurie?"

"Laurie?" Hyde repeated with a slight scowl, the guilty look on Fez's face only making that frown grown, "As in Laurie Forman?"

When Hyde didn't get any kind of response he realized not only had he gotten his answer but he figured out what this trip was all about.

"Crap. We're out here to look for Laurie, aren't we?" he asked, his frown now replaced with a Zen like expression.

Fez grinned as he at last glance back over at Hyde, "I knew you were a smart cookie!"

"We're looking for Laurie?" Kelso asked appearing to be much more excited than Fez's other travel companion, "Awesome! I bet she's still hot."

While Fez happily nodded his head in agreement, Hyde was still trying to wrap his mind around this whole idea. Looking for Laurie Forman? They'd have better luck finding the City of Atlantis.

"If you two think we can actually find Laurie on our own, you're bigger dumbasses than Red gives you credit for." Hyde told the two, "We'd need Colombo, Kojak, and McCloud just to figure out where she's at."

Kelso's arm shot up into the air, hitting the rooftop of the car but not caring, "I call McCloud! Cuz I totally rock that cowboy hat look and watch this," he cleared his throat to get ready for his impersonation of the TV character while delivering the catchphrase, "There ya go!"

Neither of the other two men in the vehicle paid Kelso any attention.

"We do not need any of them, we already know where she is at." Fez wore a proud smile on his face as if he had cracked this case, "She is in California."

Hyde wasn't so sure, "How do you know that?"

Keeping his gaze straight ahead, Fez wordlessly reached into his shirt pocket and retrieved the folded up postcard and handed it over to Hyde. Kelso tried to see what it was but Hyde took hold of it before the kettlehead could get too good of a look.

He unfolded the paper and saw the cartoon picture of the sunny state of California. Swiftly he turned it over and found the message written in the back, he didn't read through it but the handwriting did look vaguely familiar and even similar that belonged to the girl he'd had burn wars with through out his childhood and teenage years. Of course what really caught his attention were the words at the beginning and end of the postcard's message. 'Laurie' at the bottom and up on top 'Daddy.'

"Red know you stole this?" Hyde questioned, lifting up the card a tad.

"I did not steal it." came Fez's reply, both his hands gripping the steering wheel, "Miss. Kitty says that postcards are a given and anyone can read them."

With a small smirk on his lips, Hyde shook his head already able to hear his surrogate mother say such a thing.

"And no. He does not know I took it." added Fez at the last second.

Hyde took one more look at the swirly signature of the name Laurie. He hadn't seen her in over a year, he didn't even know she had started keeping in touch with her parents. While he was glad she was, he wondered if she knew how much not hearing from her months at a time had worried them both. He didn't understand why Fez was so determined to find her and figured the only way he'd find out was if he asked.

"Fez, man, why do you wanna find her so much?" he questioned, "You remember who Laurie is right?"

The foreigner ignored the second question and concentrated on the first one, "I want to find Laurie because I love her and she loves me."

"Might wanna add an 'n' at the end there." Hyde commented.

Kelso's face scrunched with confusion, "N? She loves me n….me n…." then it clicked, "Oh! She loves men!" he laughed and another light turned on, "Burn!"

In that next instant Fez slammed down on the brakes and all three of the grown men jerked forward by the very unexpected stop. Kelso appeared frightened while Hyde frowned over at Fez only to be met with an even angrier frown worn by the driver of the vehicle.

"Out!" he shouted.

"What?"

"Out!" Fez repeated his voice full of fury, "If you two do not want to help me find Laurie, then get out now."

With wide eyes, Kelso shook his head, "Hey it wasn't me, I was all for looking for Laurie. I said she's probably still hot, remember?"

Fez did not reply to Kelso's statement and instead focused on his other friend, "Hyde?"

"Look man, it's not that I don't wanna look for her it's just…" he drifted off wondering how he could explain to his friend how difficult this could all really be, actually contacting Laurie, maybe seeing if she would come home…the guy thought not only that he was in love with her but that she had some feelings for him too. This trip was looking to be a set up for only heartbreak for the poor naïve guy, "Even if we know where she is…it's gonna be hard, you know?"

"I know." Fez nodded, and his tone of voice almost made it seem like he had gone over those same obstacles that Hyde had been thinking of, "That is why I was so happy when you and Kelso decided to come. I thought it would mean I would have your help." He paused for effect, "Along with the help of all the road trip candy and beer."

Hyde stared at Fez, "You buying all that stuff?"

"Yes."

He knew he should have opened up the Vista Cruiser's door and gotten out of the car and the overall trip; he was being given the choice to do so. They weren't too far from home, he could catch a bus and be back in Point Place by dinner time and any worries about Fez, Kelso, or Laurie would be out of his mind. He should have gotten out of the car but instead he pushed the button on the radio switching back over to the cassette.

As _American_ _Girl_ started playing once again Fez grinned over at his rebel friend who merely nodded back; smile still in place Fez took his foot off the brake and pressed it back onto the gas pedal, getting them back on the road.

"_Oh yeah, all right_

_Take it easy baby_

_Make it last all night_

_She was an American girl"_

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__There you have it! Chapter 3 of "Runnin' Down a Dream" Again I am so very sorry for the wait!_

_So what did you think? Good? Bad? Somewhere in between? Also are you all okay with me continuing the story? Lemme know in a review!_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day! _


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